Clemson University’s Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution Friday that called the actions and views of one of its founders, Benjamin Tillman, “repugnant” to the university’s values, and directs the university to appoint a task force to study the complete history of the university in depth.

“The Board of Trustees reaffirms that Clemson University should be known as a Top 20 Public University and for its outstanding students, faculty and staff, not by the racist actions a century ago,” according to the resolution.

The resolution does not call for renaming of Tillman Hall, but it does charge the task force with “exploring appropriate recognition of historical figures.”

This comes on the heels of a renewed call from 10 past presidents of Clemson’s Faculty Senate for the trustees to rename Tillman Hall, the most iconic building on campus that is named after Tillman, a founding trustee of the university and a former state governor and U.S. senator who spoke virulently against blacks, advocated for lynch law, pushed Jim Crow laws and was charged but never indicted in the Hamburg Massacre, where six black men were killed by a white mob.

Tillman “was also known to be by his own admission an ardent racist and led a campaign of terror against African Americans in South Carolina that included intimidation and violence of which he boasted about publicly,” according to the resolution.

“For some members of our university family Benjamin Tillman’s legacy included not only contributions to Clemson University but also oppression, terror and hate,” according to the resolution.

For months, the Board and administration held out on taking action despite repeated calls from some students, faculty and staff to rename Tillman Hall.

This marks the first acknowledgement by the trustees of those calls to recognize and portray the university’s full history.

It says that Clemson is committed to diversity, inclusiveness and historical accuracy as key values and says “recent events in our state and nationally have prompted concerns about how Clemson University portrays its history and how that portrayal impacts the full breadth of the Clemson family.”

Trustees acknowledged lawmakers for their leadership in removing the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the Statehouse. Trustees had called for the flag’s removal and passed a resolution of support on June 29.

It comes a day after S.C. House Speaker Jay Lucas said he would not support debate on changes to any other Confederate memorials, monuments, markers or buildings after state lawmakers decision to remove the Confederate battle flag from Statehouse grounds last week.

“The General Assembly, the House in particular, made it abundantly clear during the debate of the confederate flag that the only issue they were willing to discuss was the placement of the battle flag on the north lawn of the State House,” Lucas said. “We reached a swift resolution last week and in doing so put an end to this discussion. Debate over this issue will not be expanded or entertained throughout the remainder of my time as Speaker.”

It would most likely take a two-thirds majority of the legislature to rename Tillman Hall if Clemson’s trustees voted to rename it. The Heritage Act, a compromize bill passed in 2000 to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome, requires the super-majority vote to make changes to any buildings, monuments or memorials named after a historic person or event.

The task force will develop a comprehensive plan “on how best to preserve and tell the complete history of Clemson University,” according to the resolution.

It will include trustees who will work with President James Clements and the administration to develop a plan in the next six months.

The task force will seek input from students, faculty, administration and alumni.

The plan will include recommendations regarding curating Clemson’s historic buildings and memorials and ways to better acknowledge and teach Clemson’s history.